Behold, the '98 Ford Aerostar

Someone is lying

Maybe that's why it's a shitpost lol
- Actually I have very fond memories of my family's old Aerostar.
This guy minivans
- I minivanz

This is my desktop at work. I like to let my co-workers know I’ve still got a dream I’m working towards

Lofty goals, but you don't choose the Aerostar. The Aerostar chooses you.
It's time to move on, all the cool kids are driving wind stars now

I had a lot of fun with one of these when I was a teenager. Trying to do donuts backwards, off-roading through the woods chasing after my friends that were on dirt bikes, taking the back seats out to fit all manner of things inside...

I think about the only thing it didn't do was get me laid lmao

My first car was its less stylish GM frienemy, the Chevy Astro. Good pep from the torquey compact pickup engine (as long as you had completely normal and dry roads, otherwise it was fishtail city), the versatility to take out the middle row for maximum mailbox vandalism efficiency (in and out like the MF'in A-Team!), and the forward visibility of Wonder Woman's invisible jet.
All manner of things... ours had the nickname "fuck truck"...

My mom had a red 1991, and I puked in it a ton. I remember her yelling at me "I opened the window, all the smoke is going out the window what are you complaining about?". Long smokey drives that made me so car sick.

Just seeing one gives me the queezies.

Smoke from the car or your mom?
- A legitimate question. The smoke was from my mom.

This is what peak masculinity would drive every day.

married man.
married man.
drives around in a minivan.

What a beaut. Always thought they kinda looked like a sperm without a tail.

...wut

Mom, can we get a shuttle craft?

No honey, we have a shuttle craft at home.

The shuttle craft at home…

My family had one of those even I was growing up. It was a late 80s or early 90s model. Same colors as that though. It was a pretty sweet ride. We went from being creamed in the back seat of a blazer and sharing a seatbelt to having our own seats.

Wait what happened to you in the back seat of the blazer?
- Went there to get creamed, I'm assuming it's some sort of bukkake situation or maybe just sunlotion but I don't think the back seat of a blazer is as versatile as the ford aerostars so probably the first thing

Besides there being no 1998 Aerostar, this is one of the early models. The badges on the front fenders went away after the first few model years, and the later ones have composite headlights rather than the sealed beams.

I have to say I found this to look ugly and dated when it first came out. Now I'm kinda feeling it. Cute little wheels.

She’s majestic.

The original pussy wagon.

I think we went through 3 trannys on one within the warranty period... Great ride with sliding windows and sliding door. Good times. I recall my dad showing me the engine under the hood. I don't have any idea how someone worked on it. It was horribly crammed in.

Why does this vehicle look like it has downs syndrome?

The wheel to car ratio....

I think it's just the photo. It was based on a truck, so it was a pretty hefty minivan. Plus cars these days have ridiculously sized wheels.
- I think it being based on a truck qualifies it as a van, no mini. Maybe compact van?
Recently read or saw in a video, the tire tech hadn’t advanced to the point we really are today.
It sounds funny but they couldn’t make the walls strong enough (and cheap enough) for typical production vehicles like today (if my memory is correct!) that’s why today cars have much “shorter” looking tires
- Interesting! If you run across it again I'd love to see it.

Thing was built on an F150 chassis and always felt solid. Unlike the later Windstar.

I need one of these for the drive shaft lol

Stangbro!
It's hard to find them at the junkyard that haven't been trashed by the forklifts
- Nah, just T5 swapping something. Turns out Aerostar driveshaft is almost a perfect slot-in for a Volvo 940 Turbo

i liked to call it the Ford Fordstar

He skipped leg day

I don't think they make this anymore?

I miss seeing those on the road. Name just fuckin rocks.

‘98 only had the Windstar. Did you mean ‘89?

That's not the '98 Ford Aerostar. That's the glorious '98 Ford Aerostar.

My family had an Aerostar when I was a teenager. I called it the road cow, partly because of how it handled and partly because the power steering fluid pump would make a very moo-like sound when you turned the wheels sharply.

Compare it to the first Renault Espace from 1984:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Renault_Espace1_1984_front_20140122.jpg/500px-Renault_Espace1_1984_front_20140122.jpg

My first vehicle 🥺 mine was green and had a 2 foot extension, room for activities!